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Nature, Wildlife and Wellbeing

Sunday 26th March 2017

Studies show that being in nature can improve your health and wellbeing. MWT will be getting outdoors at local sporting events and encourage you to get out in nature too.

Many of us know that it feels better to get out and about outdoors, watch wildlife, get involved with some volunteer work parties on nature reserves, or exercise our brain muscles working out what that plant or bee species actually is.

MWT spend a lot of time getting people active outside, learning a little or discovering more about Manx nature. That may be through our events, people visiting our nature reserves, or focused projects getting families and children active in our woodlands, like Ramsey Forest Eco-Active.

It is our hope that, through their own experiences in nature, people and organisations can really get involved...

There are more and more reasons for us to be thinking about the difference that nature and wildlife make to our lives. One in particular, that you may not have realised, is that being in nature can actually improve your health and wellbeing, or quality of life.

You may be thinking, “I am pretty healthy already, I haven’t had been sick in ages.” Well, according to the World Health Organisation, health is actually more than just the lack of disease; rather it is “a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing...”

Perhaps this is something you have heard of. Well, to iron out the facts, the University of Essex carried out a study for The Wildlife Trusts that shows clear evidence that contact with a wide range of natural environments that are rich in wildlife can provide numerous benefits for our health and wellbeing.

Some benefits are perhaps more obvious, like improved health from physical activity while you are outside in natural spaces. However, being in nature has further proven benefits, such as reducing stress and anxiety, views of nature can help accelerate recovery after surgery and reduce stress during a commute. Overall, you can’t go wrong spending time in natural environments, especially those rich in biodiversity.

It is easy to see how we can all benefit from a healthy natural environment. This is just one of the reasons why it is so important to think of wildlife and nature during decision-making. To highlight the importance of nature in our health and wellbeing, we will be going through the benefits of our wildlife and environment over the coming months, and MWT’s staff will be raising awareness while getting active with some challenges in the Manx landscape. We'll be doing part of the Manx Telecom Parish Walk, Tough Mann and Manx Telecom End2End. You can find us on JustGiving.com. It is all about being healthy in a healthy natural environment.

Chief Executive Tim Graham says, “It’s amazing how natural spaces and wildlife can have a huge impact on our lives, even when they’re more or less unseen. Living in the Isle of Man, we are fortunate to have so many natural spaces to explore, and perhaps you are already noticing some of these benefits. It is our hope that, through their own experiences in nature, people and organisations can really get involved once they understand how it can make a difference.”

Five Ways to Wellbeing

Until next time, a great tool to help you along the trail to wellbeing is the “Five Ways to Wellbeing”. Outlined below, these are five actions to build into your day-to-day life for wellbeing. It reveals that getting involved with MWT can really help you and Manx wildlife!